The Swift space telescope burned up in Earth's atmosphere after 22 years in orbit. Scientists tried to save it but to no avail as NASA's Swift space telescope fell from orbit and burned up in Earth's atmosphere over Indonesia, NASA said. The device, which weighs a ton and a half and costs 500 million dollars, was launched in 2004 to study gamma ray bursts - the most powerful bursts of energy in the universe. Swift was originally designed for a two-year mission, but ended up spending 22 years in orbit. Recently Swift experienced difficulties, as a result she began to lose speed and descend. NASA made an attempt to save Swift. To achieve this, a unique link device was built in just eight months. His mission was to approach the telescope, capture it and gradually raise it to a higher orbit. NASA has not performed such operations before, and the mission could help show how other satellites, including the Hubble Space Telescope, could be rescued in the future. The attempt failed - after the launch, Kishore started spinning uncontrollably and did not reach the destination. As a result, NASA stopped operating the satellite on October 20. A video (allegedly shot by eyewitnesses) of a telescope falling over Indonesia. MilkyWayPlayground / YouTube.

The Swift space telescope burned up in Earth's atmosphere after 22 years in orbit. Scientists tried to save it but to no avail as NASA's Swift space telescope fell from orbit and burned up in Earth's atmosphere over Indonesia, NASA said. The device, which weighs a ton and a half and costs 500 million dollars, was launched in 2004 to study gamma ray bursts - the most powerful bursts of energy in the universe. Swift was originally designed for a two-year mission, but ended up spending 22 years in orbit. Recently Swift experienced difficulties, as a result she began to lose speed and descend. NASA made an attempt to save Swift. To achieve this, a unique link device was built in just eight months. His mission was to approach the telescope, capture it and gradually raise it to a higher orbit. NASA has not performed such operations before, and the mission could help show how other satellites, including the Hubble Space Telescope, could be rescued in the future. The attempt failed - after the launch, Kishore started spinning uncontrollably and did not reach the destination. As a result, NASA stopped operating the satellite on October 20. A video (allegedly shot by eyewitnesses) of a telescope falling over Indonesia. MilkyWayPlayground / YouTube.